CEDAR CITY – The Utah Shakespeare Festival is taking “The Taming of the Shrew” to thousands of elementary and high school students in three western states.

Students from several Iron County schools got a sneak peek of the production Thursday and Friday during performances at Cedar High School before the festival’s Shakespeare in the Schools Tour hit the road Friday afternoon.

Joshua Stavros, associate director of education for USF, said the tour is in its 20th year and is planned to make stops in Nevada, Arizona and Utah, running through mid-April. For this tour, he said, William Shakespeare’s full-length play is produced as a 70-minute version, which is designed to fit into one school period.

USF’s goal is to introduce children and communities that may not have a lot of arts exposure to a Shakespeare play performed in a new and fresh way, Stavros said.

“When you think of Shakespeare, sometimes you have preconceived notions in your mind, and this show tries to do it a little different, more fun — take an alternative view and keep it in the curriculum,” Stavros said.

There is a short list of Shakespeare plays that are taught in schools, he said, so USF rotates its tour productions between five plays: “MacBeth,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Taming of the Shrew” and “Twelfth Night.”

Not only do the actors perform at schools, Stavros said, but they interact with the students in a talk-back format after the performance. They also provide the students with small-group workshops in topics such as improvisation, Shakespeare text and stage combat.

“We like it because we’re not only reaching a lot of people with the performances, but we interact closely with the students in a way that we get to know them, we get to really connect with them,” Stavros said.

The production’s cast includes seven professional actors, who are hired from throughout the country. A three-member stage crew accompanies them, and the actors help the crew with stage tasks.

Tom Littman, from New York City, performs in the production as Petruchio, who is courting the belligerent Kate. He said the character is fun to play because he is smart, witty and sure of himself.

Littman said while he was in New York, he learned about auditions for the play through a connection at his Alma Mater, the University of Northern Colorado. He said he submitted a filmed audition and after an interview process, he landed the role.

“It was very unexpected, just one of those that fell into my lap,” Littman said. “I was very lucky.”

He said during the past six years, he has been working with regional Shakespearean festivals, which have given him the opportunity to increase his training. He even started a small Shakespeare company in New York that stages a full production of a Shakespeare play in seven days during the summer.

Littman said he was familiar with the festival even before landing the role of Petruchio.

“I knew coming in that I was walking into a very special regional theater, and I would love to come back,” Littman said. “It’s a great town, and it’s a great theater community.”